Four more cases of monkeypox have been reported today, bringing the total number of current infections to nine.

The new cases had returned recently from overseas, the Ministry of Health said. Three were isolating in the Auckland region while the fourth is in the South Island. There was no evidence of community transmission and the risk of further spread has been deemed low.

“We continue to advise anyone who will have close physical or sexual contact while overseas, or with people who’ve recently been overseas, to be mindful of MPX symptoms and the health advice,” the ministry said.

According to a World Health Organisation report, issued yesterday, monkeypox case numbers globally peaked in mid-August, with cases in Europe and the Americas on the decline.

Newstalk ZB has maintained dominance in the local media landscape, pulling in the most listeners in above 10-years-old. It had a 14.7% share of overall listenership, above the Breeze on 10.2%.

However, in the younger categories of 18 to 34 and 25 to 54, ZB was further down the pack. It was back on top of the 65+ category.

In the competitive breakfast market, Mike Hosking’s show on ZB was again top of the leaderboard with 472,405 listeners every week. ZM’s Fletch, Vaughan and Hayley has the most breakfast listeners in the 25 to 54 group.

Today FM, the Magic Talk replacement that pitched itself as a ZB competitor, did not feature in the top 10. MediaWorks’ director of news and talk Dallas Gurney said the network won’t have a complete national picture for Today FM until early next year. For the company, Today FM is a long-term project, so our total focus is continuing to deliver awesome journalism and talk radio every day,” he said.

Our image of the day is fairly self-explanatory.

Image of the day today comes from The Spinoff’s Head of Podcasts Jane Yee. This is Jane’s cat, who she describes as “an asshole”.

Monday’s state memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II will be aired live on Three, it’s been confirmed.

In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery’s senior vice-president for ANZ, Glen Kyne, said the network was “invited to work” alongside RNZ, who will also be carrying the service, as a broadcast partner. “This is an example of how different media organisations can collaborate and work together, ensuring Kiwis across the Motu have the opportunity to reflect and pay their respects, while also benefiting the broader media sector.”

It signals that the service will not be carried by state broadcaster TVNZ – and nor were they invited to do so.

The broadcast will begin with a Newshub Special co-hosted by Melissa Chan-Green and Patrick Gower, followed by the official service, with commentary from Mike McRoberts and Oriini Kaipara, starting at 1.30pm. The service will be signed and Kaipara will provide te reo commentary.

We’ve gone Alice Snedden mad here at The Spinoff after we launched the third season of her magnificent series Bad News last week.

Now, in some astonishing cross promo, she’s popped up to tell us about accidentally killing a budgie on the latest episode of First. Enjoy!

Sky has confirmed its new, hyped and much-delayed set-top box will be out before Christmas and retail for $200. The white Sky Box, designed to replace the current set top boxes that are more than a decade old, was originally scheduled for release in the middle of the year.

The new Sky Box will be a hybrid with the ability to combine satellite connections through Sky rooftop dishes as well as giving access to apps like Netflix and Disney+ via a broadband connection. It will come with 1 terabyte of storage, offer 4K broadcasts and has the ability to record up to five shows at once.

Sky is also offering customers a cheaper online-only streaming option called The Pod for $100, reportedly to help replace the soon-to-be-defunct Vodafone TV service.

The company calls its new box a “transformational entertainment experience” and says it plans to begin rolling the boxes out to those that register interest before Christmas, but stock will be limited.

Last night Russian president Vladimir Putin made a rare appearance on Russian television and announced a partial mobilisation of military reservists. The Guardian reports that will number up to 300,000 mostly young men, now called up for a war that the president has sought to shield his population from. Putin has avoided mandatory conscription up until now.

Putin also warned that he wasn’t bluffing over using everything at his disposal to protect Russia – an apparent reference to his nuclear arsenal. There are reports that Russians are booking one-way tickets out of the country and there are fears that the border may close.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in New York yesterday and has lent her voice to the chorus of condemnation directed at Putin.

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Foreign affairs minister Nanaia Mahuta has welcomed an investigation looking into potential conflicts of interest linked to government contracts offered to her husband.

Gannin Ormsby was awarded contracts by four different agencies, prompting questions about whether these were accurately disclosed.

Mahuta has maintained that she “assiduously” declared possible conflicts, but the opposition has continued to pressure the government to do more to allay concerns.

“It’s concerned me for some time that even though I have declared conflicts of interest and noted that they’ve been managed in accordance with the Cabinet manual, these stories are still persisting,” Mahuta said.

National’s Simeon Brown said he wrote to the Public Service Commissioner twice asking for investigations into how the contracts were awarded.

“I am pleased the Public Service Commissioner has agreed to investigate this matter. New Zealanders have a right to know how contracts were awarded to Mr Ormsby when Ms Mahuta was the associate minister for three ministries that entered into contracts with him,” Brown said.  

“Conflicts of interest, or even perceived conflicts of interest, can severely undermine public trust and confidence in our democracy and public service.”

The letter sent by the commissioner to Brown revealed that Labour minister Chris Hipkins had also requested the matter be looked into. This followed Mahuta herself asking him as the public service minister to check over the contracts.

Consumer NZ wants shoppers to keep an eye out for dodgy or misleading “specials” at the supermarket.

It’s in the wake of the government putting grocery operators on notice over surging prices and a lack of competition. While the Commerce Commission “recommended” that supermarkets take responsibility to ensure their pricing and promotional practices were easy to understand, Consumer NZ was concerned that won’t happen without customer pressure.

“Whether it’s a multi-buy that works out to be the same price whether you buy one or five items, a product advertised ‘on special’ selling for its regular price, or something advertised as being on special that’s charged at the regular price, we want to hear about it,” said Consumer NZ boss Jon Duffy.

“We are not convinced the supermarkets will change their ways without pressure from consumers.”

On Stuff, an example provided shows a block of Feta cheese “on special” for 10 cents more than it’s regular price (Countdown said this was an error and later apologised).

Duffy said it was “crucial” that supermarkets were honest with their pricing so that consumers could compare prices and trust they were getting a genuinely good deal.

“We will continue to keep a close eye on the sector and encourage consumers to let us know when they see concerning behaviour by the supermarkets.”